Table of Content

25 April 2026, Volume 48 Issue 2

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Invited Special Paper

From tool to personal assistant: The principles, evolution, and security risks of AI agents

CHENG Pengzhou, ZHANG Xinpeng

2026, 48(2):  79-087.  doi:10.3969/j.issn.0253-9608.2026.02.001

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As one of the most transformative technological directions between 2025 and 2026, AI Agent is reshaping the boundaries of human-computer interaction and promoting the leap of artificial intelligence from passive response to active service. By constructing core modules such as perception, planning, decision-making, and reflection, combined with tool calling capabilities and hierarchical memory management mechanisms, AI Agent has acquired the abilities of multi-step reasoning and environmental interaction, becoming a core application form for the implementation of technologies in the large model era. Represented by frameworks such as OpenClaw, a new generation of AI Agent frameworks has broken the application limitations of traditional intelligent tools by virtue of the automatic operation capability in desktop environments driven by natural language instructions, promoting the paradigm shift of intelligent systems from tools to personal assistants, and demonstrating the development trends of continuous service, personalized adaptation and gradual evolution into user digital avatars. However, with the improvement of AI Agent’s autonomous decisionmaking authority and the expansion of environmental control scope, its security risks have been increasingly prominent, including issues of internal cognitive bias such as intent misunderstanding and perception hallucination, as well as external malicious threats such as prompt injection, privacy leakage and backdoor attacks, making it a new high-risk application form. This paper systematically reviews the developmental trajectory of AI Agents from tool calling to intelligent personal assistants, analyzes their key principles and technical evolution, and explores security risks within their interaction mechanisms alongside future research directions.




Applications and perspective of artificial intelligence in non-silicon-based biological data storage

ZHAO Ziwei, YU Yang, SONG Haitao, LI Jiang

2026, 48(2):  88-98.  doi:10.3969/j.issn.0253-9608.2026.02.002

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Global data is undergoing explosive growth, and traditional storage solutions, represented by silicon-based media, are facing significant challenges in terms of physical limits and sustainability. Hence, non-silicon-based biological storage technologies are gradually emerging, with DNA-based data storage pathways developing most rapidly and regarded as a highly promising nextgeneration storage solution. DNA data storage technology utilizes artificially synthesized deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) molecules as information carriers, offering revolutionary advantages such as ultra-high storage density, millennial-scale stability, and near-zero maintenance energy consumption. However, its path to practical application remains constrained by multiple bottlenecks, including coding efficiency, error rates and control costs, and data retrieval speed. In recent years, the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) technology has injected new momentum into overcoming these challenges. This paper briefly introduces the principles and challenges of DNA storage, reviews key applications of AI in DNA storage, with a focus on its latest progress in encoding optimization, error correction, and efficient retrieval, and discusses current technological limitations as well as future development directions.



SPECIAL TOPIC

The frontier of regenerative medicine: Artificial intelligence empowers biomaterials to write the future of precision medicine

XU Shihui, WANG Yongtao, XIAO Junjie

2026, 48(2):  99-106.  doi:10.3969/j.issn.0253-9608.2026.02.003

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Biological materials are specially designed and manufactured for the interaction with biological system, applied in medicine, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. These biomaterials possess specific physical, chemical, and biological properties with excellent biocompatibility. In the field of regenerative medicine, artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as a new frontier by injecting precision-driven momentum into material development, becoming a pivotal force in advancing precision healthcare. This review systematically explores the role of AI throughout the entire lifecycle of biomaterial design, degradation, and application.




Construction, functionalization, and biomedical applications of artificial cells

CUI Yaxin, DOU Hongjing

2026, 48(2):  107-121.  doi:10.3969/j.issn.0253-9608.2026.02.005

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Artificial cells are synthetic microcompartments that possess structural or functional characteristics of living cells, serving as an essential bridge between non-living materials and biological systems. Research on artificial cells provides fundamental insights into the origin of life and enables the design of novel bioactive materials, emerging as a multidisciplinary focus across materials science, chemistry, and biomedicine. This review systematically summarizes recent progress in artificial cell construction and materials, including lipid vesicles, polymer vesicles, and coacervates. The primary directions of artificial cell functionalization are outlined, encompassing growth, division, metabolism, energy transduction, information processing and communication. Furthermore, recent advances in the biomedical applications of artificial cells are highlighted, particularly in disease diagnosis, drug delivery, biomimetic functionality, synthetic biology-based bioreactors, and artificial tissue engineering. Finally, the challenges associated with material selection, structural complexity, and functional integration are discussed, along with an outlook on the future development of artificial cells in intelligent therapeutics, synthetic life, and regenerative systems.




From molecules to life: click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry illuminate future of biomedicine#br#

JIN Yanjia, CHEN Xuerui, XIAO Junjie

2026, 48(2):  122-128.  doi:10.3969/j.issn.0253-9608.2026.02.006

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Carolyn R. Bertozzi, Morten Meldal, and K. Barry Sharpless received the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, attributed to their study on click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry. Click chemistry aims to rapidly and reliably synthesize various molecules by linking small units, while bioorthogonal reactions apply this to specially label and visualize living systems without interfering the biological surrounding. “Precise synthesis” has been introduced into the human body, enabling the clinical translation of “drug synthesis in vivo” and “3D bioprinting of tissues in vivo”. Therefore, click chemistry that started with organic chemistry have been widely applied in cancer therapy. The applications of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry in precise imaging, targeted therapy, genetic engineering, and viral vaccines are summarized in this work. The practical application of personalized medicine, new drug research and development, and regenerative medicine are constantly promoted.




Research progress in lubricating molecular materials for tissue metabolism regulation

Adilijiang•Abudousu, CUI Wenguo

2026, 48(2):  129-151.  doi:10.3969/j.issn.0253-9608.2026.01.007

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Homeostasis of tissue metabolism is fundamental to maintaining tissue structure and function, and metabolic dysregulation is closely associated with the pathogenesis and progression of various diseases. Consequently, modulating tissue metabolic homeostasis has emerged as a critical therapeutic target for disease intervention. Leveraging their unique interfacial lubrication and tunable physicochemical properties, lubricating molecular materials not only mitigate mechanical damage but also actively intervene in tissue metabolic networks through multidimensional regulatory strategies. In this review, we highlight diverse lubricating molecular materials, provide an in-depth analysis of their multifunctional modes of regulating tissue metabolism, and discuss their applications in disease contexts. Finally, we outline the current challenges and future prospects of this rapidly evolving field.




Progress

Controlled synthesis of chiral carbon dots and their biological applications

MO Zunli, ZHANG Zengdong

2026, 48(2):  152-162.  doi:10.3969/j.issn.0253-9608.2026.02.011

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Chiral carbon dots (CCDs) are a new type of carbon based nanoluminescent material that introduces chiral structures or chiral superstructures on the basis of traditional carbon dots. They combine the excellent optical properties of carbon dots with chiral optical response, and have broad application prospects in chiral recognition, biological imaging, and biomedical engineering. Based on the main theme of “controlled synthesis”, this article summarizes the structural characteristics and optical basis of chiral carbon dots, systematically sorts out several main synthesis strategies such as direct carbonization of chiral precursors, surface chiral modification, and chiral template/supramolecular self-assembly, and focuses on discussing the key regulatory parameters that affect the luminescence wavelength, quantum yield, and chiral asymmetry factor (g value). In the section on biological applications, the representative progress of chiral carbon dots in cell imaging, chiral selective sensing, chiral electrochemical interface construction, etc. is introduced, and their potential applications in drug delivery, chiral phototherapy, and bioinformatics encoding are briefly reviewed. Finally, the main problems currently existing are analyzed from the perspectives of structure performance structure-activity relationship, synthesis repeatability, long-term safety, and interdisciplinary collaboration. The possible paths to promote chiral carbon dots towards higher-level biological applications through precise molecular design, green sustainable precursors, multimodal imaging and treatment integration are also discussed.




From the “soul of beer” to health guardian: A new discovery of food-medicine homology of hops

XIN Hailiang, XIA Tianshuang, YU Kaining, ZHU Gexin, ZHAO Kai, LIN Jingchao

2026, 48(2):  162-168.  doi:10.3969/j.issn.0253-9608.2026.01.013

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In the realm of “food”, hops (Humulus lupulus L.) is an indispensable auxiliary ingredient in beer brewing, often hailed as the “soul of beer”. In the field of health, as a star plant with dual purposes for both food and medicine, its multifaceted pharmacological effects have been discovered and garnered attention over the past century. In recent years, we have innovatively uncovered its “dual-sided” regulatory role in uric acid metabolism. Specifically, its resinous components (bitter acids) exhibit uric acid-elevating effects, while its flavonoid components demonstrate four approaches by lowering uric acid and combating gout. In summary, the value of hops is rapidly expanding beyond beer brewing into areas such as functional foods and innovative drug research and development, promising even broader prospects for future exploration and application.